Shuttle for sewing-machines.



No. 704,406. Patented July 8, |902.

VH. R. TRACY. SHUTTLE FUR SEWING MACHINES.

(Appncatimmed mr. 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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UNiTnD STATES I-IARRIET `RUTH TRACY.,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SHUTTLE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,406, dated J'u1y8 ,1902.

Application filed March 21,1899. Seria] No. 709,925. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, HARRIET RUTH TRACY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Shuttles of Sewing-Machines, (for which I have made application for Letters Patent in Great Britain under No. 1,135, dated Januaryl', 1899,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of sewing-machines in which a vibratory or reciprocating shuttle is employed. 4In all such machines as heretofore constructed it has been necessary to have an independent device which takes up the slack or loop made by the shuttle in the formation of each stitch. The object of this invention is to so construct a Vibratory shuttle that this slack or loop (which is commonly referred to in the art as the shuttle-slack is held back and used for the succeeding stitch, anyindependent takeup being thus dispensed with. By this in- Vention, therefore, (instead of the portion of the needle-thread which forms the loop being drawn back and forth many times through the work and the eye of the needle as loops are formed and taken up,) the loop when once formed is retained below the work and used for a succession of stitches, the shuttle after the formation of the first loopat each successive stitch adding merely such a quantity of threadto the loop as has been used up in the work to form a stitch. The shuttle can therefore be made larger than has been hitherto practicable, so as to carry any desired bulk of thread or other sewing material.

In carrying out the invention I affix at or near the back end of the shuttle, which may be of any usual shape, an arm, bar, rod, or the like extending forward and preferably above and -to one side to within a short distance of the front end of the shuttle. The loop of the needle-thread after passing over the body of the shuttle is engaged between the arm and the shuttle, so that the slack is taken up by each complete reciprocation of the shuttle.

A convenient form of construction forcarrying out this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures l and 2 are plan Views of a shuttle,

having an arm, according to this invention, in different operative positions. Fig. 3 is a section of the shuttle on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic side views of a shuttle in the operative positions shown in Figs. l and 2, respectively, showing the relative positions of the needle and its thread.

Like letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The shuttle A, which may be of any usual shape and reciprocates, as shown, in the arc of a circle or in a straight line, as preferred, is provided with an arm B, fastened in any convenient manner to the back of the shuttle -say at B. Preferably it is in the form of a fiat plate, as shown in plan in Figs. l and 2, in cross-section in Fig. 3, and in side View in Figs. 4t and 5, but is circular in cross-section whereit joins the shuttle, as shown at B2. Desirably the free end of the arm has an upward curve.

C is the shuttle-driver; D, the needle; E, the needle-thread; A', the shuttle-thread, and G two thicknesses of fabric.

In Figs. l and 4 the shuttle is shown at the extreme end of its forward movement, having passed through the loop E'of the needlethread, which is engaged by the portion B2, the needle D having been drawn up, as in Fig. 4. The shuttle now commences its backward movement, and the loop slips forward along the arm B. In Figs. 2 and 5 the shuttle has completed its backward movement and again begun to advance, the needle has commenced to ascend, and the shuttle-nose has just engaged the thread to form a second loop, while the first loop is free to slip off the arm B and be drawn up tight to the fabric by the action of the shuttle in forming the second loop. The slack is thus taken up without having passed a second time through the eye of the needle.

The shuttle-thread acts in the usual manner, as shown at A, Fig. 4. Its action is not modified in anyway, and it is therefore omitted in the other figures forthe sake of clearness.

The shape and size of the arm B may vary according to the material to be sewed or the type of machine, dac.

I claim- 1. A vibratory shuttle provided with an IOO arm to retain the loop of the needle-thread during the reverse movement of the shuttle, the arm being secured near the heel of the shuttle and extending in a plane above the Y lower edge of the shuttle in the direction of the shuttle-nose, substantially as described.

2. A vibratory shuttle provided with an arm to retain the loop of the needle-thread during the reverse movement of the shuttle, the arm being secu red near the heel of the shuttle, and having its free end terminated f' between the heel and the nose of the shuttle,

substantially as described. l

3. A vibratory shuttle provided with an arm to retain the loop of the needle-thread during the reverse movement of the shuttle,

f the arm being secured near the heel ot the shuttle, and extending in the direction of the nose of the shuttle, the arm having its outer I edge curved, and being of greatest width at its center, substantially as described.

4. A vibratory shuttle provided with aloopretaining arm secured near the heel thereof,

shuttle to release the loop at a point Where it Will not be engaged by the descending needle, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereto set my hand in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

HARRIET RUTH TRACY.

Vitnesses:

HARRY B. BRIDGES, ALFRED J. ELLIS. 

